


Autodefenestration

by kdm13



Series: Death in the Family [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Even though death doesn't hold the same meaning in this case, Gen, I just have to tag the character death because it's only fair, Just like the last one this has a happy ending, Silver Dragon Angus, dragon!angus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 13:42:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16724490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kdm13/pseuds/kdm13
Summary: In which the world's greatest detective forgets to use his ears. Grief makes for a great distraction.





	Autodefenestration

**Author's Note:**

> Since I got so much attention in such a short time from the last fic I posted, I let myself get carried away in the middle of reading a fic update. It mentioned flying. 
> 
> This took me somewhere between two to three hours to write from concept to completion and I never write that much at once. I finished around three in the morning and then couldn't look at it again for over twelve hours due to fear, but it turned out pretty good I think. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Angus McDonald has always been stronger than he looks. Both physically and mentally. And it's not like he hasn't seen death before. He has. A lot of it. He's outlived a lot of people.

But Taako's death still hurts. Even though he had seen it coming a mile away. It hurts like a knife stabbed into his chest that twists into an aching numbness. He finds himself saying goodbye with more formality than he's used around his family outside of goofs in centuries. Finds himself staring blankly at the pages of his book. And when he feels someone put their hand on his shoulder, he absconds.

He needs air. Desperately. The door isn't fast enough. He doesn't care about appearances. Doesn't heed the shouts. He just goes for the window and autodefenestrates.

He's transforming almost before he's completely through the window, and then everything is lost to the wind. He doesn't even register leaving the city. He just flies. Thoughts drift into his head only to be pushed away like the air under his wings.

He doesn't stop for a long time.

He's in a cold mountain range far from anywhere in particular by the time he finally lets himself think again. Running away doesn't solve anything. He knows that. He just. He needs some time to be alone. To think about where to go now. He has to deal with some things first, but after that, he's not sure.

There's always going back, but he doubts that Kravitz and the rest will spend as much time on this plane now that Taako's-

Angus wails, and the floor of the cave in front of him gets coated in ice. The far wall gets a light dusting that crawls a short distance up before stopping.

There's no one left alive who remembers Angus McDonald, boy detective. He's outlived them all.

There's no soft bed or calming hoard here, but he's tired. In a way that has less to do with a lack of sleep and more to do with how long he's lived. So he curls up against a wall that's out of sight of the entrance and tries to sleep.

He's not sure how long he stays like that, but it's long enough for him to almost write the sound of reality tearing off as a dream. In fact, he would have if not for the swearing that was followed swiftly by a thump. Like someone had made a portal too high above the ground and had fallen through.

“Go away.” Angus punctuates the sentence with a huff of frost. He just wants to be left alone.

“C'mon, pumpkin, there's no reason to be giving old Taako the cold shoulder. Not after all the trouble-” Taako trails off into a squawk when Angus swiftly grabs him and pulls him close. He starts to put up a fuss, but Angus just rests his enormous jaw on Taako and leaves him pinned until he calms down.

“I said I'd be back! I told Kravitz and Barold to pass it along. Why’d you run off so far?”

Angus can't find the words to say for a while, but he shifts into his human disguise, helps Taako off the ground, and envelopes him in a hug. Taako hardly even hesitates in returning it.

“I-I'm sorry!” Angus squeaks out. “I just. I needed some time to think and I didn't stick around long enough to listen and I'm sorry!”

Taako rubs calming circles on Angus’ back. It's something that took the elf about a century and a half after the Day of Story and Song to do for his family without prompting. He murmurs soft comforts into the Angus’ ear as well. And it helps. It does. So why does it take him so long to stop crying?

“Ugh! You're getting snot all over my clothes! I didn't sign up for dragon snot! Do you know how hard that is to wash out?!”

Angus laughs. He finally pulls away and wipes his eyes. Taako takes a few steps back and holds his clothes out to inspect them in an overdramatic fashion. Angus mutters a few words in Draconic and waves his hand towards Taako's outfit. It's true that the traces he leaves behind are harder to get rid of magically at this age, but it's still easy enough for him to do it so long as he uses the right language. Taako once tried copying him, but it hadn't worked the same.

“So you're going to work for the Raven Queen now?”

“Yeah. Natch. This world ain't getting rid of Taako that easy.”

“No offense, but you hate working.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“So-?”

“I'm not leaving you, Angus. Ever. ”

**Author's Note:**

> You know, I was going to have Angus run out the door, but him yeeting himself out a window means I actually have an excuse to use the word for throwing someone out a window. Can't pass up that chance.
> 
> Bonus: if I did the math right, this fic should get my total word count on AO3 to a cool 10,000.


End file.
